Confession time: I've been avoiding this thread (and a few others) because I've been bad for the past week and a half.
There were 2 holiday parties at work in the same day, an additional "happy hour" specifically planned to use up the leftovers, once-a-month "beer hour," once-a-week bagels at lab meeting, a pizza party for my lab, and I was busy so I gave in to fast food instead of cooking a few times. I didn't bother to count calories. I think I exercised one out of every two days. I've been hovering right around 130, so that's not so bad, but I'm ready to get back on track.
This Saturday we've got a Christmas celebration with family, then next Saturday another one. (Which means a day or two away from home each time, so lots of eating out or eating whatever other people cook for us.) And a dinner out with my dad at some point. And possibly lunch with my grandparents.
So, for this week, I'm keeping the calories a bit lower. Trying for about 1200 a day. And I'm starting a new workout plan - 3 days a week of strength training (developed by DH) and 3 days of cardio (1 hour each time). If I can drop a little more weight on the days that I CAN control, I'll do less damage with the days that I can't.
Luckily I've got lots of Christmas gifts to assemble, so I'll be too busy to snack! I'm making soup mix, instant potato soup mix, caramel corn, chocolate covered marshmallows (the biggest temptation for me out of all of it ), red velvet cake balls, candied orange peels, maple-balsamic pecans, and various handmade ornaments (including ribbon stars and beaded snowflakes). About half of the gifts need to be done by this Friday. I might take Thursday off just to have more time to do it all!
I have decided to try calorie cycling (ala the Wendie plan but not with points). 2 years ago I was maintaining 127 on 2200-2700 calories a day. Last year when I was trying to lose a little of what i had packed on (oh to be trying to lose only 10!) I tried 2000 calories and gained. Major metabolic shift, and yes I have had my thyroid tested.
Anyway I am trying for 1400 calories today. I know that is normal for a lot of you but that is REALLY low for me. I'm hoping the knowledge that it is just for 1 day will get me through it. No smartbalance on the toast this morning. Got an early am run in since there is no school, first time in ages I ran early. Hoping to hit the gym and costco and grocery shop today so gotta get the kids moving soon but they had an exhausting weekend.
mayness, I know the feeling, I never really know what to say if I don't have something good or on plan to post.
ennay, I hope that gets sorted out, how frustrating. I know someone else posted a similar experience with their maintenance level dropping. I sure wish there were more answers.
I did a big kitchen cleaning spree yesterday ... and still not close to done oh well! It's better, anyway.
I've been a little less rigorous than usual myself - nothing horrid by itself, and nothing resembling the binges I used to go on. Most concerned about getting to the pool tonight and sometime Wednesday, because DS10 doesn't have team practice and I'd just been tagging along with him.
Scale was 150.0 again - no doubt responding to the 2 restaurant meals on Sat night/Sun morning. I was able to wear a dress for dinner that I haven't had on in 9 years! It was actually just a smidge too big - I'm going to look it over and see if it's an option to get it altered. It was a big motivator to keep the attention on!
mayness-i know what you mean. i avoiding the site for over a month, same reason!
ennay-good luck with the calorie cycling, i'm interested in hearing how it goes. my metabolism does wierd stuff to me all the time.. like gaining on 1300 cals and exercising 4-5 times a week...so frustrating.
icu-congrats on the dress...i love that feeling! (hoping to get there myself one of these days )
i am determined to have a good day today. the weather's horrible and i'm not feeling 100% but i can eat well and exercise as much as i can.i'm finally done all my holiday baking so that is a big relief. hope everyone has a great day!
So far so good today. I cannot say the same for the last few days, so we'll see if I can keep up the "good behavior" for a couple days. Thursday-Saturday this week will find me falling face first into some delicious homecooking, so I'd like to at least start the week well. My dad called me yesterday to tell me all the delicious things he's going to make for us while we're there Fri & Sat....oh my goodness!!! After he asked if it was okay if he cooked me these special meals, etc. he said, "It's okay to have these treats for a day or 2 because I know you're committed to being healthy and will keep that up after Christmas." Thanks, dad! LOL
Everyone else.....seems like we are all just so busy this week, all trying hard to stay on plan (but having some slip ups). This time of year is HARD HARD HARD on the old diet plan! And I am finding no time for exercise. It is so tough. But I keep telling myself, compared to last year's eating behaviors, I am doing fabulous!!!!!!!
There were some cookies and chocolates at work today ... I only felt the smallest passing inclination to have some. I'm saving myself for Christmas and homemade treats.
ICU - congrats on the dress! jiggles - what a good positive attitude! Are you feeling any better today? Ms Perception - sounds like he REALLY doesn't want you blaming him for any damage to your weight, haha. kellost - sounds like you're doing as well as you have time for, which is great! Julie - that's some amazing will power! I'm jealous!
Yesterday was a good day for me. In fact, it was a GREAT day. I read through "The Hacker's Diet" again for some weight loss motivation. I decided to go with 1230 calories a day for a while (excluding holiday parties)... maybe even all the way to my goal if I can stand it. I was under my goal yesterday (1188) and I exercised for about 45 minutes. DH came up with a new strength training program for me, and he totally kicked my butt yesterday. I'm already getting sore.
Today I'm feeling very down/depressed for no obvious reason (maybe because I ate so much less than normal? hmm...) but I'm gonna do my best to stick to my calories, and do an hour of cardio after work. I might skip cooking dinner... I just added up a meal from Wendy's with just the right number of calories. I'm just too busy this week!
Had a good maintaining day yesterday. That is to say, I had enough cals to maintain and not low enough to lose. I guess that's not too bad since that was my plan originally for this month. Now for the next couple days I want to keep the cals a bit lower to allow for the higher cals later this week.
mayness-Well, I was kinda a daddy's girl growing up and even though it's not that way anymore he still kinda goes out of his way for me sometimes. He gets really emotional about how proud he is of me (not necessarily weight-loss realted) and stuff, so he doesn't want to mess anything up for me, ya know?
JulieJ-I'm with ya on the homemade treats. The store bought ones are easy to pass on to wait for the good stuff!
kellost-It's good to keep that perspective sometimes. We could feel discouraged when things are off plan, but in reality it's still a great deal better than it was in the past. It's a growing and learning process! I always say, 'I'm a work in progress!'
good day yesterday. Today is already off because I woke up too late to run in the morning. Blah. That means treadmill during my sleepy time double tough. And I dont have anything on the DVR to watch, I am all caught up.
thanks all for the kudos - it DOES feel good to pull these "skinny" clothes out!
3FC is definitely an oasis in the storm out there. Seems the current messages are nothing but "CONSUME!!! SPEND!!! EAT!!! INDULGE!!!" Here, there's a refuge of discipline ... like-minded folks who are determined to ignore the temptations and make progress toward their goals all 52 weeks of the year. Whew. In case it hasn't been said enough already, thank you, all, for being here and reminding me of what's important. You are mental de-clutterers!
Hey guys......just had to post, because I did my weekly weigh-in and I was down 4 lbs!!!!!! So I'm currently at 130, and now I've officially lost 75 pounds! I'm not going to change my ticker yet though....why??? Because I think it will go up this week for sure with the holiday. I don't want to be too depressed over the holiday eating, so I think I'll leave the ticker where it is. LOL.
I think the weight I "gained" last weigh in wasn't real weight after all. I did so well this week, and I'm proud. It's been tough. I'm trying to stay good until Christmas Eve dinner, then I know I'll be eating some treats.
If I don't get to post again, I'd like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! I am going to be super busy until after the New Year, so I might be M.I.A. this next week. But I'll be back here in January with renewed focus to lose these last few pounds!
And what ICU just posted is so true.......I am just so thankful to have 3FC and this forum to be my lifeline through this weight loss journey! Thanks guys!
I didn't bother to count calories. I think I exercised one out of every two days. I've been hovering right around 130, so that's not so bad, but I'm ready to get back on track.
), 
I might take Thursday off just to have more time to do it all!
oh well! It's better, anyway.
I'm just too busy this week!
